AirPods Pro 3 deemed irrepairable by iFixit, score 0 out of 10

The new AirPods Pro 3 may offer stellar sound quality, but they fall flat in one key area for consumers. 

That's according to popular repair site iFixit, which rated the new TWS earbuds from Apple a 0 out of 10 in terms of repairability. This is mainly due to the extremely difficult task of battery removal and replacement. In its recent teardown of the AirPods Pro 3, iFixit utterly obliterated the buds when attempting to get to the battery, resulting in catastrophic damage to the buds. 

The charging case didn't fare much better, suffering a similar irreparable fate. The difficulty in battery replacement comes primarily from Apple's practice of gluing in the cells powering both the buds and charging case, making removal all but impossible. 

Per iFixit, this is a continuing trend from Apple's in-ear wireless earbuds. The original AirPods also received a 0/10, as has every base model or Pro version of the AirPods since. As such, once the cells in the buds or charging case give up the ghost, there is very little that consumers can do other than chuck them in the bin and buy something else. 

It should be said that, technically, the AirPods Pro 3 aren't completely unrepairable, but that's like saying you are technically never safe from being struck by lightning; the process is so difficult that even experienced repair technicians risk permanently damaging them during a teardown or repair (hence the 0/10 score). 

If repairability isn't a concern for you, you can buy the AirPods Pro 3 from Amazon for $249.